Odds and Bits from Kenyan News:
British man on honeymoon in Kenya killed by elephant
By ANTHONY MITCHELL
The Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya — An elephant trampled and killed a British man on his honeymoon in Kenya, officials said Monday.
Patrick Smith, 34, was killed in front of his wife, Julie, in the Masai Mara National Reserve on Sunday, officials said. His wife managed to leap out of the way.
"He was trampled by an elephant while on a nature trail with his wife," said Connie Maina, spokeswoman for the Kenya Wildlife Service. "This is a terrible accident."
The couple had been married for just a week, Maina added.
They had arrived in Kenya for their honeymoon and were staying at the luxury Richard's Camp lodge in the game reserve. The camp is in the Masai Mara conservation area, about 100 miles southwest of the capital, Nairobi.
The couple set out for their nature walk Sunday morning and were with a Masai guide just 330 yards outside the camp when the elephant attacked, Maina said.
"We think the elephant must have been at very close proximity to the couple and was surprised," she said. "They don't normally do this kind of thing. It is terrible. The wife saw what happened. I am told the wife is OK but is shaken up."
Jake Grieves-Cook, chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, said the elephant knocked over their guide but the wife escaped injury.
"No one knows what startled the elephants, but the guide was doing everything right. They were downwind and thought they were a safe distance. Elephants have very poor eyesight, so this was not an attack," he said. "It was a tragic accident."
Tourist officials said the tented camp, in the northwestern corner of the Masai Mara, would be closed for several days because of the accident.
Julie Smith and her husband's body were flown back to Nairobi. She was expected to leave for Britain later Monday.
According to Kenya's Wildlife Service, the last tourist killed by an elephant in Kenya was in 2000.
What a tragedy. I feel very bad about this, but it just goes to show you that you have to be prepared for anything in Africa, especially in the parks. Personally, I would not wander about Maasai Mara on foot. I'm not saying what these people did was wrong, they even had a guard with them, but this is precisely the kind of thing that happens on foot. Elephants are very unpredictable, and as the article says, they don't see well and they get confused about what's a threat and what's not. Combine those two with an animal that is larger than a car and it spells disaster. Hopefully this won't give the Maasai Mara, it's elephants or the Maasai living there a bad name, because elephant attacks are rare, but hopefully it will also raise awareness about walking about where things like elephants and lions and leopards live. I won't lie to you: the nights I spent in Tsavo and the Mara camping out in the open were not without a certain amount of pure fear and a huge amount of respect for the creatures......
The East African (Nairobi)
October 3, 2006Posted to the web October 3, 2006
Fred Oluoch, Special CorrespondentNairobi
Kenya seems to be reconsidering its support for the ineffectual Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia following the steady territorial expansion by the Union of Islamic Courts.
But at the same time, the Kenya government would prefer to keep the Islamic Courts at arm's length for the moment, at least diplomatically.
While top government officials maintain that Kenya is on a diplomatic offensive to help the TFG function and put the Somalia question on the world agenda, sources say Kenya's previously unwavering support for the interim government is being reviewed in the light of unfolding events in Somalia.
They cite last week's incident in which Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi failed to meet Kenya's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Moses Wetang'ula, after waiting for some time at the Foreign Affairs office.
Those conversant with diplomatic protocol interpreted the incident as a snub, but Mr Wetang'ula maintained that the media was reading too much into the incident.
He explained that Mr Gedi, having requested an urgent meeting, had to be fitted in between other appointments, but when his meeting with the Italian ambassador took too long, Mr Gedi rushed off to honour a scheduled appointment with the African Union ambassadors.
"We have demonstrated goodwill toward the TFG and the Islamic courts by flushing out the warlords and banning others from entering Kenya. We have midwifed the peace process and helped translocate the interim government. What more can we do other than to engage in a diplomatic offensive to clear the bottlenecks that have impeded the performance of the TFG?" he asked.
Besides the question as to whether Kenya still believes in the relevance of TFG, the country seems to have executed a climbdown on the burning issue of the deployment of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) peacekeepers to Somalia, after its previous stand raised diplomatic tensions.
Initially, Kenya, through Foreign Affairs Minister Raphael Tuju, was categorical that the only solution to the Somali problem was to send in Igad peacekeepers, even without the consent of the Union of Islamic Courts.
This position, in the eyes of the Islamic Courts, portrayed Kenya as having closed ranks with Ethiopia, which has been campaigning for the deployment of Igad troops. This threatened to rob Kenya of its image as an honest and trusted broker of the Somali peace process.
Of late, Kenya seems to be backtracking on the issue of the deployment of Igad troops, even as it maintains its support for TFG as the internationally recognised authority.
While addressing the UN General Assembly last Tuesday, Mr Tuju appealed for humanitarian intervention as opposed to military intervention, while at the same time coming up with a new proposal for the formation of a joint committee comprising neighbouring countries, the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and prominent members of the Security Council.
Mr Wetang'ula last week clarified that Kenya still believes that the deployment of Igad troops is necessary, but only with the concurrence of concerned parties, otherwise they stand the risk of being seen as invaders.
But what created suspicion between the Kenya government and the Islamic Courts was the visit to Kenya early September by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi for talks with President Mwai Kibaki over the deployment of Igad troops in Somalia.
It gave the impression - in the eyes of the Islamic Courts - that Kenya had been won over by Ethiopia into agreeing to the deployment of Igad troops in Somalia without consultations with the Islamic Courts. Consequently, the Islamic Courts were conspicuously absent from the September 5 Igad meeting that resolved to send troops to Somalia, despite the fact the chairman of the Courts, Sheikh Shariif Ahmed, was in the country.
But last week, Mr Wetang'ula defended the Kibaki/Meles consultations, arguing that, apart from the Somali issue, Kenya and Ethiopia have many bilateral issues to settle.
As Mr Wetang'ula put it, "Of course, the Somalia issue had to come up given that President Kibaki is the current chairman of Igad, and both Ethiopia and Kenya have their concerns as the frontline states. As a demonstration that Kenya has not abandoned its neutrality, we have offered not to send Kenyan troops to Somalia as per the earlier mutual agreement that frontline states should keep out of the force."
The tricky issue currently is whether Kenya has fully recognised the Islamic Courts as the central players in the resolution of the Somali question.
Mr Wetang'ula made it clear that Kenya, Igad and the TFG are worried about the unfolding scenario of territorial expansion, which could easily precipitate other unilateral actions to protect the TFG - a tacit reference to unconfirmed reports that Ethiopian troops have entered Baidoa.
According to the chairman of the Ford-People party, Farah Maalim Mohammed, the Islamic Courts have bent over backwards to assure Kenyans that they have no territorial design on Kenya, and that they admire Kenya's democracy and social order.
This is a difficult article for me to comment on because the problem is delicate and intricate and in many ways beyond my realm of knowledge. What I do know is that there is a great deal of fear when it comes to the idea that Somalia may be taken over by the Islamic Courts and this will spell certain doom for Kenya. Of course, I think that the fear of a Taliban-esque/Taliban-supported regime is top on the list, and the Kenyans have good reason to fear this given their history of bombings and alleged terrorist activity within their borders. From the way I look at this single issue, this is worrisome not only from a diplomatic standpoint, but from an economic standpoint as well. Since the United States imposed a travel warning to Kenya, the tourism industry has taken a hit. Yes, there is some compensation coming from the Far East with more Chinese tourists coming for safari every year, but look at Mboya's situation - the loss of his job was a direct result of less Americans visiting Kenya because of the travel warning. If Somalia has designs on Kenya or if there's a violent overflow from its borders or if suspicious activity having to do with Somalia passes through Kenya and makes visiting dangerous for "Westerners" the backlash could be devastating. Of course there are many other reasons why Kenya is being careful when it comes to Somalia, but this is the one I best understand and about which I feel most comfortable to leave a comment.
British man on honeymoon in Kenya killed by elephant
By ANTHONY MITCHELL
The Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya — An elephant trampled and killed a British man on his honeymoon in Kenya, officials said Monday.
Patrick Smith, 34, was killed in front of his wife, Julie, in the Masai Mara National Reserve on Sunday, officials said. His wife managed to leap out of the way.
"He was trampled by an elephant while on a nature trail with his wife," said Connie Maina, spokeswoman for the Kenya Wildlife Service. "This is a terrible accident."
The couple had been married for just a week, Maina added.
They had arrived in Kenya for their honeymoon and were staying at the luxury Richard's Camp lodge in the game reserve. The camp is in the Masai Mara conservation area, about 100 miles southwest of the capital, Nairobi.
The couple set out for their nature walk Sunday morning and were with a Masai guide just 330 yards outside the camp when the elephant attacked, Maina said.
"We think the elephant must have been at very close proximity to the couple and was surprised," she said. "They don't normally do this kind of thing. It is terrible. The wife saw what happened. I am told the wife is OK but is shaken up."
Jake Grieves-Cook, chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, said the elephant knocked over their guide but the wife escaped injury.
"No one knows what startled the elephants, but the guide was doing everything right. They were downwind and thought they were a safe distance. Elephants have very poor eyesight, so this was not an attack," he said. "It was a tragic accident."
Tourist officials said the tented camp, in the northwestern corner of the Masai Mara, would be closed for several days because of the accident.
Julie Smith and her husband's body were flown back to Nairobi. She was expected to leave for Britain later Monday.
According to Kenya's Wildlife Service, the last tourist killed by an elephant in Kenya was in 2000.
What a tragedy. I feel very bad about this, but it just goes to show you that you have to be prepared for anything in Africa, especially in the parks. Personally, I would not wander about Maasai Mara on foot. I'm not saying what these people did was wrong, they even had a guard with them, but this is precisely the kind of thing that happens on foot. Elephants are very unpredictable, and as the article says, they don't see well and they get confused about what's a threat and what's not. Combine those two with an animal that is larger than a car and it spells disaster. Hopefully this won't give the Maasai Mara, it's elephants or the Maasai living there a bad name, because elephant attacks are rare, but hopefully it will also raise awareness about walking about where things like elephants and lions and leopards live. I won't lie to you: the nights I spent in Tsavo and the Mara camping out in the open were not without a certain amount of pure fear and a huge amount of respect for the creatures......
The East African (Nairobi)
October 3, 2006Posted to the web October 3, 2006
Fred Oluoch, Special CorrespondentNairobi
Kenya seems to be reconsidering its support for the ineffectual Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia following the steady territorial expansion by the Union of Islamic Courts.
But at the same time, the Kenya government would prefer to keep the Islamic Courts at arm's length for the moment, at least diplomatically.
While top government officials maintain that Kenya is on a diplomatic offensive to help the TFG function and put the Somalia question on the world agenda, sources say Kenya's previously unwavering support for the interim government is being reviewed in the light of unfolding events in Somalia.
They cite last week's incident in which Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi failed to meet Kenya's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Moses Wetang'ula, after waiting for some time at the Foreign Affairs office.
Those conversant with diplomatic protocol interpreted the incident as a snub, but Mr Wetang'ula maintained that the media was reading too much into the incident.
He explained that Mr Gedi, having requested an urgent meeting, had to be fitted in between other appointments, but when his meeting with the Italian ambassador took too long, Mr Gedi rushed off to honour a scheduled appointment with the African Union ambassadors.
"We have demonstrated goodwill toward the TFG and the Islamic courts by flushing out the warlords and banning others from entering Kenya. We have midwifed the peace process and helped translocate the interim government. What more can we do other than to engage in a diplomatic offensive to clear the bottlenecks that have impeded the performance of the TFG?" he asked.
Besides the question as to whether Kenya still believes in the relevance of TFG, the country seems to have executed a climbdown on the burning issue of the deployment of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) peacekeepers to Somalia, after its previous stand raised diplomatic tensions.
Initially, Kenya, through Foreign Affairs Minister Raphael Tuju, was categorical that the only solution to the Somali problem was to send in Igad peacekeepers, even without the consent of the Union of Islamic Courts.
This position, in the eyes of the Islamic Courts, portrayed Kenya as having closed ranks with Ethiopia, which has been campaigning for the deployment of Igad troops. This threatened to rob Kenya of its image as an honest and trusted broker of the Somali peace process.
Of late, Kenya seems to be backtracking on the issue of the deployment of Igad troops, even as it maintains its support for TFG as the internationally recognised authority.
While addressing the UN General Assembly last Tuesday, Mr Tuju appealed for humanitarian intervention as opposed to military intervention, while at the same time coming up with a new proposal for the formation of a joint committee comprising neighbouring countries, the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and prominent members of the Security Council.
Mr Wetang'ula last week clarified that Kenya still believes that the deployment of Igad troops is necessary, but only with the concurrence of concerned parties, otherwise they stand the risk of being seen as invaders.
But what created suspicion between the Kenya government and the Islamic Courts was the visit to Kenya early September by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi for talks with President Mwai Kibaki over the deployment of Igad troops in Somalia.
It gave the impression - in the eyes of the Islamic Courts - that Kenya had been won over by Ethiopia into agreeing to the deployment of Igad troops in Somalia without consultations with the Islamic Courts. Consequently, the Islamic Courts were conspicuously absent from the September 5 Igad meeting that resolved to send troops to Somalia, despite the fact the chairman of the Courts, Sheikh Shariif Ahmed, was in the country.
But last week, Mr Wetang'ula defended the Kibaki/Meles consultations, arguing that, apart from the Somali issue, Kenya and Ethiopia have many bilateral issues to settle.
As Mr Wetang'ula put it, "Of course, the Somalia issue had to come up given that President Kibaki is the current chairman of Igad, and both Ethiopia and Kenya have their concerns as the frontline states. As a demonstration that Kenya has not abandoned its neutrality, we have offered not to send Kenyan troops to Somalia as per the earlier mutual agreement that frontline states should keep out of the force."
The tricky issue currently is whether Kenya has fully recognised the Islamic Courts as the central players in the resolution of the Somali question.
Mr Wetang'ula made it clear that Kenya, Igad and the TFG are worried about the unfolding scenario of territorial expansion, which could easily precipitate other unilateral actions to protect the TFG - a tacit reference to unconfirmed reports that Ethiopian troops have entered Baidoa.
According to the chairman of the Ford-People party, Farah Maalim Mohammed, the Islamic Courts have bent over backwards to assure Kenyans that they have no territorial design on Kenya, and that they admire Kenya's democracy and social order.
This is a difficult article for me to comment on because the problem is delicate and intricate and in many ways beyond my realm of knowledge. What I do know is that there is a great deal of fear when it comes to the idea that Somalia may be taken over by the Islamic Courts and this will spell certain doom for Kenya. Of course, I think that the fear of a Taliban-esque/Taliban-supported regime is top on the list, and the Kenyans have good reason to fear this given their history of bombings and alleged terrorist activity within their borders. From the way I look at this single issue, this is worrisome not only from a diplomatic standpoint, but from an economic standpoint as well. Since the United States imposed a travel warning to Kenya, the tourism industry has taken a hit. Yes, there is some compensation coming from the Far East with more Chinese tourists coming for safari every year, but look at Mboya's situation - the loss of his job was a direct result of less Americans visiting Kenya because of the travel warning. If Somalia has designs on Kenya or if there's a violent overflow from its borders or if suspicious activity having to do with Somalia passes through Kenya and makes visiting dangerous for "Westerners" the backlash could be devastating. Of course there are many other reasons why Kenya is being careful when it comes to Somalia, but this is the one I best understand and about which I feel most comfortable to leave a comment.
posted by Al at 9:50 PM
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